News Potatoes
'Potato contract must change'
Interest representative General Farmers Syndicate (ABS) has been trying for some time to give the potato grower more power when a contract is signed with the French fries producer. In years of shortages and high free market prices, growers bear the brunt of unread fine print. Potato foreman Guy Depraetere hopes that this year will make a difference.
ABS released a press release out with clear language. "A disaster is unfolding, which is affecting contract potato growers," the report reads. Factories should regard the general drought as force majeure, ABS argues. LTO Akkerbouw chairman Jaap van Wenum also left earlier know want to sit down with the factories.
Fine print
Guy Depraetere, national secretary of ABS, is realistic: "Farmers agree too easily to signing kilo contracts. If the contract cannot be delivered in full, and the factory has to buy expensive free potatoes, the grower will pay for this. That is literally stated." in the small print. Last year, that was also a problem. However, then the free potatoes were dirt cheap. Processors bought the necessary volume and you didn't hear anyone about it. This year is different."
Depraetere knows better than anyone how the game is played. "The factories have many fieldmen on the job who try to get the contracts signed as soon as possible," he says in unadulterated Flemish. "They sign without negotiation. Even when a grower can invoke force majeure, a way out is often found, for example by claiming that the crop has not been properly cared for because there are too many weeds."
hectare contracts
The advocate is fed up. "We have to move towards standard contracts per hectare instead of tons. New varieties such as Fontane deliver much more tons than the trusted Bintje. This means that 40 tons per hectare are quickly contracted, which is not always feasible. In the canning industry, the contracts for frozen vegetables are different. There the factory takes its loss when the harvest fails. If the harvest is above average, a lower price is paid. The whole is better balanced. It is usually better organized in the Netherlands too. Only the large growers with hundreds hectares are treated differently and pampered for processors."
Since March, in Belgium worked to 1 representative for the sector. The industry, in the form of Belgapom, is also involved in this. "We have to take action now," says Depraetere. "If we have to wait until the association is formed and it has this on the agenda, then we are a long way ahead. The factories sometimes mention that growers get money from the disaster fund and are compensated for the loss they suffer. It takes years before you get this money."
Little rained
ABS has every reason to sound the alarm. "Less than 10% of Belgian potatoes are irrigated", the potato man knows. "There is a lot of yield loss in the early varieties, although in certain regions it is possible to irrigate relatively much. The yields here are good, but you see a lot of crops that are failing now. Fontane is a relatively strong variety, which still shows potential. With high temperatures on the horizon, more and more potatoes are going to collapse."
"It is also dry in Wallonia and northern France, although it is possible to irrigate more in Picardy, for example," he says. "In Wallonia, these are relatively new potato growers. They have invested heavily in storage, but not in irrigation. It is difficult because a lot of work is done with leased land, which is very fragmented. The subdivision is also not ideal."
Even for those who can irrigate, the question is how long this is allowed. The Flemish government is talking about a national watering ban† For agriculture, the ban only applies between 08:00 and 20:00. The ban applies to both surface water and wells.
Niels van der Boom
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